Nine things you didn’t know about the Audi Q7

THE Audi Q7 SUV has rolled into its second generation, arriving in Australia spoiling for a fight with the new Volvo XC90, the fresh Mercedes-Benz GLE and the BMW X5.

Here are nine things we reckon you didn’t know about the new Audi Q7.

1. It’s light. OK, calling a seven-seat SUV that weighs 2135kg light might sound strange, but in Audi Q7 land this is big news. The old car weighed 240kg more, which is the equivalent of lugging about a large motorcycle. Or two sumo wrestlers.

2. It has more computing power than the Starship Enterprise. A suite of on-board safety and assistant systems make the Q7 the most advanced mass-produced Audi ever.

3. Some of this tech won’t work Down Under. Boo! As smart as it is, the Q7’s fancy (and brilliant) Trailer Assistant system isn’t available here. Nor is its Predictive Efficiency Assistant, which struggles to recognise our road signs.

4. The options list is extensive. And expensive. Tick a few choice options and you can quickly add the price of a regular family car to the Q7’s $103,900 price tag. The most outrageous option is a $14,850 Bang & Olufsen sound system.

5. It’s fast. Weirdly fast. The Q7’s relaxed but relentless 200kW/600Nm 3.0-litre TDI propels it from rest to 100km/h in 6.5sec, which is enough to embarrass a hot hatch.

6. An even faster one is coming. Remember the bonkers V12 TDI of the previous gen? It’s long dead, but an even faster Q7 is coming, fettled by the boffins at Audi’s RS arm.

7. Australia matters. We’re the sixth most important market for Q7s worldwide, compared with other Audi models where Oz falls outside the top 10. We’re so important that Audi conducted more than 11,000km of Q7 testing here.

8. Smaller outside, bigger inside. Despite its being 37mm shorter and 15mm narrower, Audi has somehow managed to make the Q7 roomier inside. Go figure.

9. It comes with iPads (sort of). Audi wanted to stick removable tablets to the back of the front seats to double as in-car entertainment screens but existing products couldn’t withstand the extreme temperatures often felt in car interiors. So Audi created its own Android based tablet.

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Plus one more…

10. It’ll keep you 35 percent cooler. Q7 offers a ‘deluxe air conditioning’ system that essentially turns the entire dash into one big air vent.

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